It’s Official: Joe Biden Is Not Running For President In 2016

"I couldn’t do this if the family wasn’t ready," Biden said as he spoke on the White House lawn.

Joe Biden made an announcement today in the White House’s Rose Garden that he will not be running for president, despite recent rumors from FOX News that he was joining the race for 2016.

Biden attributed his decision to the fact that there was not enough time in the race to run a credible, competitive campaign against the other candidates. The Vice President to Barack Obama has long explained to the public that his grieving family was enough to make him hesitate towards hoisting them in the public eye again by joining the campaign trail.

“I know from previous experience that there’s no time table for this process,” Biden said during his 14-minute long speech, “but I also know that I couldn’t do this if the family wasn’t ready.”

Biden lost his son, Beau Biden, the 46-years-old former state attorney general of Delaware, in May after a long battle with brain cancer. The Vice President says that he and his family have grown through their time of mourning and can now look back on his son’s life and smile.

Biden also stressed that despite his decision to stay out of the race, he will speak out on the issues he finds important. The Vice President made a point to praise Obama’s work, saying that Democrats should continue in the progress that the President has made during his term in office.

“I believe that President Obama has led this nation from a crisis to recovery and we’re now on the cusp of resurgence. I’m proud to have played a part in it. Our nation would be making a tragic mistake if we walk away or attempt to undo the Obama legacy. The American people have worked to hard and we’ve come too far for that.”

The Vice President ended his speech by speaking at length about re-energizing the general public with social stability and economic growth through increasing access to free public education and jobs, cutting taxes for middle America, ending institutional racism, violence against women, and wage inequality for women. His messaging points ironically resembled points he might be making if he were in fact running for president. Biden spoke at length about the importance of curbing partisan politics as well as limiting and refining American intervention on international conflicts.

“At their core, every one of these things is about the same thing,” Biden said. “It’s about equality, it’s about fairness, it’s about respect…It’s not complicated. Every single one of these issues is about dignity. The ugly forces of hate—they won’t let up. But they do not represent the American people.”

In the end, Biden stated that his ultimate commitment for the rest of his 15 months in office will be towards increasing research and treatment options to end cancer and doing whatever he can to ensure a better future for America’s next generation.